


The Reject Room

by aro_ace_rose_weasley



Series: Seven Years of Marauding [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Hogwarts, James is the only one who wants to be in Gryffindor, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Sorting, first year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 20:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13842648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aro_ace_rose_weasley/pseuds/aro_ace_rose_weasley
Summary: It's the Marauders' first night at Hogwarts ever, and things aren't exactly looking good. So what's the only logical thing for the four barely-even-first-years to do? Break into the Headmaster's office of course!





	The Reject Room

“Sirius Black,” Minerva McGonagall called. With her strict face and perfect posture, she reminded Sirius of his mother, so he didn’t waste any time walking up to the chair, afraid to upset her by taking too long. His sorting would only last a few seconds, anyway. He was a Black, purebred through and through, it was his destiny to be the prince of Slytherin. He sat on the stool in front of everyone in the Great Hall and resigned himself to his fate as Professor McGonagall placed the old hat on his head.

_Another Black I see,_ the Sorting Hat said, except it didn’t say the words out loud, it said them in Sirius’s head. Weird. He quickly schooled the confusion out of his face like his parents had told him and just waited to hear the Sorting Hat yell Slytherin. _Except you’re not_ just _another Black, are you?_

_Huh?_ Sirius thought back to the hat.

_You don’t want to follow in your family’s footsteps, and you’re not concerned with keeping your family’s name synonymous with power. You want to forge a new path._

_No, no, I want to be in Slytherin, it’s my heritage, I want to keep my family strong and united, not split between different houses,_ Sirius protested.

_You can lie to yourself, but I can see your deepest thoughts and values. This path you want is ambitious for sure, but you will best fit into_ “Gryffindor!” the Hat roared.

The entire Great Hall seemed to pause, not believing what they heard, except for a few of the first years, muggleborns who didn’t understand who Sirius was, clapped a few times before falling into confused silence with the rest of them, and McGonagall, who simply lifted the Sorting Hat off of Sirius’s head.

“Go on now, to your table,” McGonagall urged with a soft smile. Sirius numbly got off the stool and walked over to the end of the Gryffindor table, where all the other Gryffindors made more than enough room for him, not wanting to get to close to a Black.

The Hat had to have made some mistake, Sirius couldn’t be in Gryffindor, what would his parents do? His parents were going to kill him when they found out! Maybe there was something wrong with him… no. He would get this all sorted out before his parents heard, he had to sort this out.

 

“Remus Lupin!” the professor announced, and it took Remus all of his courage just to walk up to the stool. He didn’t belong here, at this school, around all these people. He didn’t know how all these people could take one look at him and not see him for the monster he really was. With the intelligence in her eyes, Remus felt sure that Professor McGonagall knew what he was, and she was going to do something to stop him from being a student. It just wasn’t logical to think that Hogwarts would be safe with him running free inside it, no matter what Headmaster Dumbledore said.

But Professor McGonagall said nothing as she placed the Sorting Hat on Remus’s head. He could feel everyone stare at him, and all he wanted to do was run away, curl up, and hide where no one would ever find him.

_Nervous, aren’t we?_ said a voice in his head. It sounded like the Sorting Hat’s voice as it called out all the houses of the first years before him, so he assumed the hat was talking to him telepathically. _My, my, aren’t you smart. Maybe Ravenclaw would suit you well._

_Sure, Ravenclaw is a great house,_ Remus agreed quickly. Ravenclaw was not one of the spotlight houses, as Gryffindor and Slytherin always fought to get their name out there more often, and, in his research of Hogwarts, he heard that Ravenclaws could easily get immersed in their own projects, and disappearing every once in awhile could go totally unnoticed.

_But you’re not all brains, are you?_ it asked, then chuckled. _Oh Dumbledore, always fighting for the minorities._ It knew. The Hat knew he was a werewolf. He had to get away, run out before the hat exposed him, but he forced himself to sit frozen in his seat, refusing to make a scene. Dumbledore told him it was okay to come here, and who was Remus, a lowly eleven-year-old half-breed, to tell the greatest wizard of our time that he was wrong? _No, if you’re going to find where you truly belong, you’re going to fight fear every step of the way. Good luck, werewolf, and have hope. “GRYFFINDOR!”_

No. No no no no no. Gryffindor was the last place he wanted to be, except maybe Slytherin. Gryffindor was always in the spotlight, and they were always trying to find dangerous ways to get themselves hurt. Trying to follow their classmate to where he disappears every month and finding out he is a werewolf is just the kind of thing they would do!

Professor McGonagall took the hat back off of Remus’s head and Remus hurried over to Gryffindor, keeping his head down. He found himself a spot to sit in the middle of the table, where people hopefully wouldn’t notice him. He made sure to stay far away from the Black kid, he didn’t want any chance that the blood purity fanatic would find out he had a half-blood werewolf as a classmate.

 

“Peter Pettigrew!” the strict intimidating lady called, and Peter darted up to the stool. He didn’t want to do anything wrong, anything that would let people realize that he didn’t know what was happening. An old dusty had was placed on his head and he just waited until it called out what house he would be in. Peter really hoped he would be in Hufflepuff, it seemed like a really nice house that didn’t hate people as long as they worked hard and weren’t bullies.

_Hufflepuff, eh?_ A voice inside his mind said, and Peter jumped, startled. He could hear the other students laugh, and his cheeks got red. So much for not doing anything stupid. _I’m the Sorting Hat. Don’t worry, a lot of students get scared when I begin speaking. But Hufflepuff? Yes, you are loyal and hard-working, but you only want Hufflepuff because it seems like a safe house to be in. No just look at your values, what you truly want yourself to be-_

_I want a home in Hogwarts where I’m not afraid that the people I live with will hate me because of my family!_ Peter protested. _I want a house where I will be judged on what I do, not what I am, where I can make friends who won’t judge me on my parents, and I can just be me._

_If that’s what you wish, Peter, then so be it. I can see that you will have a lot of hard decisions, but just remember the values your house practices and all will be well,_ the Hat advised cryptically, and then, out loud, the hat yelled “GRYFFINDOR!”

Huh? The hat agreed when Peter had told him why he wanted to be in Hufflepuff, he can’t be in Gryffindor. What went wrong?

Professor McGonagall lifted the hat off of Peter’s head, and Peter knew he should have just gotten up and walked over to the Gryffindor table, but instead he looked up at the assistant headmaster.

“Wait, I’m supposed to be in Hufflepuff, the hat agreed to put me in Hufflepuff,” Peter told her.

“Well, I don’t know what the hat told you, but it doesn’t make mistakes in sorting. You must belong to Gryffindor, so go on, go meet your new housemates,” Professor McGonagall said, and so a confused Peter did just that. He didn’t want to bother people and make them shift around the already full table, so he just squeezed into the empty space on the end next to the Black kid from earlier. He didn’t know why everyone was staying away from him, but he wasn’t going to talk to him and find out. No, he would just survive the feast tonight and figure out what to do in the morning.

 

“James Potter,” Minerva McGonagall announced, and James strolled up to the front of the Great Hall confidently, flashing a cheeky smile at McGonagall as he reached the front. She was about to be his Head of House, after all. Of course he would be in Gryffindor. His dad may have been in Ravenclaw, but James took after his mom, who was a lion through and through.

His assumptions were confirmed when the Sorting Hat only sat on his head for a few seconds before declaring “GRYFFINDOR!”

James grinned and hopped down from the stage happily as soon as McGonagall took the hat back. This was the beginning of what was going to be the seven best years of his life! He would be matched up in a room with four other guys, and they would become best friends. Together they would rule the school, and no one would be able to do anything about it, not even those nasty Slytherins.

James spent the Welcome Feast talking and laughing, getting to know some of the older Gryffindors, but unfortunately, he wasn’t sitting by any of the other firsts years, so he didn’t meet other people his age. Whatever, he would meet his roommates soon enough, he just hoped it wasn’t that Black kid.

See, James hadn’t really had a chance to meet many people his age before he came to Hogwarts. Both his parents were rather old, and all of their friends’ kids were already mostly grown up, so he spent most of his time waiting to finally go to Hogwarts, the place everyone talked so excitedly about.

Finally, the Feast was over and the prefects took everyone back to the dorms. The girl prefect, Emily, showed everyone how to get into the Gryffindor wing by telling the Fat Lady in the portrait “jewelweed” and climbing through the porthole the Fat Lady opens. The common room was huge and exciting, but James decided he could be in awe of it later. Right then, all James wanted to do was to go find his dorm and meet the people who were going to become his best friends.

As soon as he got a chance, that’s exactly what James did. He ran up the stairs and found his room. However, something seemed wrong. Both of James’s parents always talked about them and their four roommates: five of the total. But here James was, staring at an empty room with only four large red and gold beds, not five.

As James was standing in there in confusion, a boy walked in behind him. He wasn’t stereotypically Gryffindor-ish, he was quite short, even for an eleven-year-old, and he was a little fatter. “Is this our room?” he asked sitting on one of the beds. “I’m Peter Pettigrew,” he said quietly.

James straightened up. So he only had three roommates, that wouldn’t stop them from ruling the school. “James Potter,” he told Peter with his best smile.

“Oh look, we get the Reject Room,” a voice groaned from behind James. Turning around, James recognized the tall boy with dark black hair immediately. What did James ever do to deserve being roomed with a Black for the next seven years? James was rapidly losing hope for his Hogwarts years.

“The what?” Peter asked.

“The Reject Room,” Black explained. “Dorms are supposed to have five people in them, but when there isn’t the perfect number of kids in a year, one room has an awkward number of students, the ones that the school didn’t know what to do with. Mother and Father always talked about them as if the kids inside were scum. Didn’t your parents ever tell you about that?”

“No-no, not about reject rooms,” Peter stuttered, and James had a realization. Not all of them in the dorm had to be purebloods. Maybe some, maybe Peter, was a muggleborn. He would have to find a way to warn them to be careful about telling their blood status to Black.

Luckily, Black didn’t follow James train of thought. “That probably makes sense. I was always told not to associate with the rejects because they were the ones who did not fit in their house, they were the mistakes made by the sorting hat,” Black replied.

“Wait, so the Sorting Hat can make mistakes?” Peter asked.

“No!” James protested. “The hat doesn’t make mistakes, we all belong in Gryffindor, and Hogwarts tries to put people who will get along together in a room! That’s what my parents always told me. There is no ‘Reject Room’!”

“Face it, there has to be a Reject Room. Even in your dream world where an enchanted piece of clothing never makes a mistake when deciding what someone’s next seven years are going to be like, there’s no way that there is always a perfect room arrangement where everyone loves everyone,” a new voice argued. This voice belonged to a gangly teenager with sandy blond hair. He looked exhausted. “And we all don’t live in your dream world. Maybe you think you belong here, but I sure don’t, and Black over here probably just want to go down to the dungeons and meet back up with all his little purebred buddies. And who knows where this kid wants to go, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be here either.”

James was super frustrated. These were the people he was supposed to live with for the next seven years? It wasn’t fair. He sighed in defeat, there was no way he was going to change these jerks’ minds. “Whatever, let’s just go to bed, we get our timetables in the morning. I’m James Potter, by the way.”

“Remus Lupin.”

“Peter Pettigrew.”

“Sirius Black.”

The room was quiet as the boys got ready for bed. James just wanted to know how things went so wrong. How did he end up getting roomed with three different boys who all believed that they were in the wrong house? It was Gryffindor! Everyone should want to be here, it’s the house of heroes! Of Daring adventures! Of narrow escapes and loud laughter and fun! Maybe the others believed they didn’t belong, but James knew that he was meant to be here, and there was no way he was in a Reject Room as long as he was in the red and gold tower.

 

James woke up around midnight. Looking around, he realized that Black wasn’t in his bed and that that kid who told him that the misfit room was a thing, Remus, was still awake and reading a book.

“Hey,” James whispered quietly, “where did Black go?”

“Don’t know, didn’t ask. He left a little while ago and hasn’t come back,” Remus answered without looking up from his book.

“Alright, well, you seem like you know who Black is, but I think Peter might be a muggleborn, or at least not pureblood. I don’t care, but we need to make sure Black doesn’t find out. I don’t wanna know what he’ll do,” James explained quietly, keeping an eye on the door to make sure Sirius didn’t walk back in.

“Trust me, I’m not going to spill anyone’s blood status, not with everything that’s happening,” Remus answered.

“Good, but we should also try to help him understand wizard culture before Black realizes he doesn’t know it,” James instructed.

“Maybe we should wait to talk about this while Peter is awake and can have a say,” Remus suggested cooly. “Now, can I go back to reading in peace, or do you need to do more to make sure you are the all-powerful hero?”

“Whatever,” James replied, “I was just trying to help out.” James got up out of bed and walked out of the room.

Remus sighed and put his book down on his lap. “So, what do you think?” he asked.

“H-how did you know I was awake?” Peter asked, sitting up in his bed.

“You’ve been too stressed to sleep, just like all of us except wonder boy,” Remus explained. “So, what do you think?”

“Is it really that obvious that I’m not a pureblood?” Peter asked.

“Little bit,” Remus admitted. “But I’m not one either, I’m a half-blood. Wizard dad, muggle mom. That’s partially why I know how things work around here. But you have to be careful about who knows your blood status, some witches and wizards only think that pureblooded wizards and witches should be allowed to practice magic. A lot of those wizards are in Slytherin, but they could be anywhere. The Blacks are some of the worst, that’s why everyone assumed Black would be in Slytherin. He would not be so nice if he found out you were muggleborn.”

“But I’m not muggleborn!” Peter protested. “My mom, she’s a witch! It’s my dad, he’s a, he’s a squib. My mom left us when I wasn’t showing signs of magic because she blamed my dad.”

“Alright, well we should still try to keep the fact that your dad was a squib on the down low, I’m not sure, but a squib is probably just as low, if not lower than muggles. If you want to keep it quiet from Potter, I’ll back you up, but I can try to help you with wizarding culture. I’ve read a lot of books about it since my dad and I don’t really get along. We don’t exactly do story time back home,” Remus told Peter.

“Alright, thanks, Remus, that means a lot,” Peter squeaked gratefully, smiling at the other boy.

“Of course, we can’t let these stupid purebloods control everything,” Remus declared, smiling back at Peter.

 

When James walked down to the common room to clear his head, he noticed Sirius over by the fire. He was planning on just ignoring him until James heard a small, shuddering breath come from his direction. James slowly crept towards Sirius, trying not to scare him. Once he got closer, James was met with a surprising picture. Sirius Black, of the Black family, pureblooded and pretentious and Slytherin through and through, was sitting on the Gryffindor common room couch and crying.

“Hey,” James said softly.

Sirius jumped, and quickly wiped the tears off his face and tried to school his features back into cool and not caring. It didn’t work so well with the red, puffy eyes and tear tracks. “What do you want?” Sirius asked aggressively.

“I wanted to ask you if you were alright,” James answered.

“Yeah, like you care,” Sirius replied, turning away from James.

“C’mon, man, like it or not, we’re going to be roommates for the next seven years. We might not end up the best of friends since you guys decided that we’re the Reject Room or whatever, but can’t we at least look out for each other?” James asked. Maybe his dream Hogwarts experience wasn’t going to happen, but he was going to make it the best he could, and if that meant cheering up Sirius Black, then so be it.

“You don’t get it, do you? I shouldn’t be stuck here with all of you, I shouldn’t be your roommate for the next seven years! I need to be in Slytherin, I can’t be here. Merlin, my parents are going to flip out once they hear that I’m in Gryffindor,” Sirius groaned, slouching down into the couch, giving up the haughty facade. “How did I possibly screw up this badly?”

James thought for a minute, then decide what to do. “Fine then, let’s get you into Slytherin,” he said.

“What are you talking about? I got put in Gryffindor, there’s no re-sorting,” Sirius argued.  

“Whatever, we’ll figure something out. If you shouldn’t be in Gryffindor, and Remus and Peter shouldn’t be either, then let’s fix it!” James explained.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Sirius asked. “The Sorting Hat is in the Headmaster’s office, how are we supposed to get in there? We’re just a couple of eleven-year-olds.”

“C’mon, where is that Slytherin ambition?” James teased. “Remus seems smart, we should ask him.”

James stood up to leave, but Sirius just looked up at him suspiciously. “Why would you help me like this?”

“Because you need help,” James answered simply. “And my mom always told me not to judge people based on labels. Usually, she meant it to warn me about you Blacks and other families like you, but maybe you’re not so bad either.” James smiled and offered his hand to Sirius, who paused for a minute, then returned the smile and grabbed the outstretched hand.

James and Sirius hurried back up to the dorm, where, luckily, Remus and Peter were sitting up in bed and talking.

“We have a plan, guys,” James announced. “We’re going to get you out of Gryffindor and re-sorted into the houses you all should be in!”

“Yeah? And how exactly are we going to do that?” Remus asked skeptically. “There’s no record of a re-Sorting ever happening, to anyone.”

“So, we’ll just have to be the first,” James suggested. “But we don’t really know how we’re going to do it, we figured we’d come up and ask you, Remus, because you seem smart. We know the Sorting Hat is in Dumbledore’s office, we just need a way inside.”

“So you don’t have a plan, you just have a stupid, dangerous idea you want to try,” Remus explained. “No thanks, I’ll pass. Why would you do this anyways, if you’re the one who said the hat didn’t make mistakes?”

“You guys think it did, and so I want to help. Plus, no offense, but if you guys are going to keep being so mopey about getting stuck here, I want different roommates,” James joked, but no one else laughed.

“Please, Remus, you don’t have to actually be a part of the plan, if you don’t want to get in trouble, but we think you could help us, and I really need to get into Slytherin before my parents find out,” Sirius pleaded. “I know you probably think I’m some bad guy, and I don’t blame you, but I really need this help and then I’ll be out of your hair forever.”

Remus glanced over at Peter, to gauge his reaction. Peter nodded, his eyes hopeful. “Well, if I’m going to help you do this, I’m going to get out of here too. But, just for the record, this is a terrible idea and we’re almost definitely all about to get in so much trouble,” Remus warned, wishing that there was even a chance that that meant anything to James and Sirius. “Now I know that the griffin statue by the Great Hall is the entrance to the headmaster’s office, but you need a password to get in, just like the common room.”

James, Sirius, and Peter all grinned excitedly, Peter with a lot of nervous energy, and that is how the four boys spent their first night at Hogwarts, without any sleep, planning a stupid scheme, and, most of all together.

 

The next morning, most of the hostility between the boys were gone, even if they kept pretenses up. Staying up all night to work on a project with people is a special type of bonding experience, and it made all four boys realize that they didn’t really have anything to hate about the others. James was a little stereotypically Gryffindor, Sirius had a tendency to slip into his cool and collected Black facade, Remus was always a smartass, and Peter didn’t really contribute, just sat back and watched, but those weren’t reasons to hate someone, they were just small annoyances. The only potential problem was Black’s issues with non-purebloods, but the topic never came up, and so, the more they talked, the harder it was to hate him for something he hadn’t said yet.

James realized that this was what he envisioned his life at Hogwarts to be, and was hit with the fact that he was in the process of figuring out how to get them to be able to leave Gryffindor for good. It made him want to stop planning immediately, but he knew he had to help them, they shouldn’t have to spend seven years stuck in Gryffindor because James wanted friends, especially if they could actually do something about it.

Finally, the sun rose and the boys had a plan. They went down to breakfast like everyone else, buzzing with nervous energy. However, whereas everyone else was concerned about how their first day of classes would go, James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius were preparing to break into the headmaster’s own office.

They followed along in classes all day, nodding in agreement with the professors, although they never fully participated, they were too focused to do that. Finally, the day was over, and there was time for the first years to begin exploring the castle. This meant that everyone was expecting the first years to get completely lost and wouldn’t expect them to be anywhere until a little bit before curfew.

Under this cover, the boys crept over towards the Great Hall and found the Griffin statue the was the entrance to Headmaster Dumbledore’s office. Then they hid around a corner, looking as if they were just hanging out, but making sure that no professors trying to get into Dumbledore's office could see or hear them.

It took a lot longer than the boys were hoping, but, just when their patience was wearing thin, Professor Sprout walked up to the statue. She was so quick that they almost missed her, but Remus noticed and shushed everyone quickly. From this distance, they were just able to make out the professor’s words as she relayed the password to the statue and entered the office.

As excited as they were to know the password, the next step in their plan required even more waiting. This time, the boys walked past the griffin statue and hid around another corner, the direction the classrooms were and away from the Great Hall. There they waited for the next few hours until it was finally dinner time. Slowly but surely, Headmaster Dumbledore made his way out of his office and to the Great Hall for dinner.

Not wanting to waste any time, the four misfits hurried to the Griffin Statue. “Lemon drops,” James said, and the griffin statue shifted, revealing a staircase going up. The boys made their way up, and found themselves in a waiting room area, with a door in front of them. Of course, the staircase wouldn’t lead directly into the office, what if Dumbledore wanted to have a private meeting? And Dumbledore would take extra precautions to make sure not just anyone could simply walk into his office, he wouldn’t just leave it open.

The boys felt like they had failed since this hadn’t been considered in their plan and they didn’t know what to do. Everyone looked at Remus.

“Don’t look at me,” Remus scoffed, “I told you this wouldn’t work. We’re eleven, and it’s our first day actually learning magic, why’d you think we could outsmart Dumbledore, the greatest wizard alive?”

“I guess we should go downstairs and go to dinner then,” Peter conceded sadly, hanging his head as he turned around.

“N-no, we can’t just give up!” Sirius protested, a little panic seeping into his voice. “We, we’re so close, I need to be re-sorted, I can’t, I have to be in Slytherin.” In a last attempt effort, Sirius grabbed the doorknob to Dumbledore’s office and pushed, and, by some miracle, the door just swung open.

Sharing incredulous looks, the boys all scurried inside the office and closed the door behind them. Then they froze, staring around Dumbledore’s office. The walls were covered in bookshelves, which looked to be filled with layers of books and magical artifacts. There was also a bright red bird sitting on a perch next to a large desk covered in papers.

“Hurry, let’s make this fast before he comes back,” James said. “Where’s the hat?”

The boys started searching through the bookshelves.

“I think you’ll find it sitting on the top shelf over behind the desk,” a voice said, making the boys freeze. “It likes to sit on top of things, as is its nature.”

The four boys froze, then slowly spun around to face Albus Dumbledore.

“Well, you are here for the Sorting Hat, no?” Dumbledore asked with a sly smile. “Here, it may be a little too high up for you boys, I’ll get it for you.” He walked behind his desk and lifted the large hat off of the top shelf.

“Headmaster,” James said breathlessly, “we didn’t mean-”

“To break into my office and try to get yourselves re-Sorted?” Dumbledore finished, cocking an eyebrow. “Of course not, but while you’re here, you might as well see, if you all are having doubts.”

The boys shared a quick look, but then Sirius somehow mustered up the courage to walk over to where Dumbledore was standing with the hat.

“I want to be re-Sorted,” Sirius said definitively, much more confident than he felt. “I belong in Slytherin with my family, not in Gryffindor.”

“Well then, let’s see,” Dumbledore mused. “However, I would ask all of you to wait outside and let be done one by one, in private.”

The boys were to confused by everything that was happening to try to argue, so Peter, James, and Remus hurried outside Dumbledore’s office and closed the door.

“Are we not getting expelled?” Peter asked as the door shut. “The headmaster just caught us breaking into his office on the first day of school and we haven’t been expelled yet?”

“Don’t jinx it!” Remus hissed. “I don’t know what’s happening, but we’re just going to go with it until we can find a way out.”

“It’ll be fine, Remus,” James assured. “Dumbledore’s always really lenient, we’re not going to get in a bunch of trouble.”

“You guys don’t understand!” Remus exclaimed. “I can’t believe I let you guys convince me to do this, to risk everything on a stupid scheme to do the impossible! I risked everything for no reason!”

“I promise everything will be fine, I’ll take all the blame if it comes to it,” James reasoned, seeing how upset Remus was and wanting to do something to fix it. “Sorry for making you come.”

Remus looked at James strangely. “Thanks, but I chose to come, it’s not really your guys' fault.”

On the other side of the door, Dumbledore looked down at Sirius, his eyes twinkling. “So, you want to be sorted into Slytherin?” he questioned.

“Yes, it’s my right as a Black,” Sirius said, not letting his voice waver. He made sure to stand tall and keep his chin up, not showing any sign of weakness.

“Well then, maybe the Hat will see that this time around,” Dumbledore mused. He placed the Hat on SIrius’s head once again.

_Ah, I’m not used to meeting people for a second time,_ the Hat said.

_I’m sorry to bother you, but you accidentally put me in the wrong house, I belong in Slytherin, not Gryffindor._ Sirius thoought at the hat.

_Boy, the house you belong in does not have to do with your family or blood status, it has to do with what you value. You don’t like when people, even your family, makes sly, behind the scenes actions in response to things, you want things to be done right, out in the open, where everyone can know what's happening. You want to be better than your traditions._

_You don’t understand, I can’t be a Gryffindor, my parents will be so angry, they already think I’m a failure,_ Sirius argued.

_The only time someone is a failure is when they give up on their path,_ the Hat said crypticly. _However, as you were successful in getting this second meeting, I will allow you the final choice, where would you like to be placed: Gryffindor, where you belong, or Slytherin, where your family deems fit?_

This was exactly what he had wanted, wasn’t it? Sirius could pick Slytherin and all of his fears would disappear! But just as he opened his mouth to say Slytherin, he felt a twinge of disappointment. Just in one night, Sirius had made friends with three other Gryffindor boys, ones who didn’t just care about being associates with a Black. They’d stayed up all night to help him try to get into Slytherin. Sure, two of them might end up leaving today, but was he willing to give up what he found last night just to be where his parents wanted him to be?

“Gryffindor,” Sirius decided, “I want to stay in Gryffindor.” Dumbledore just smiled and took the Sorting Hat off of Sirius’s head.

“Now, I’m going to ask you to step into another room back here and wait for the others, I don’t want to influence the others’ decisions,” Dumbledore requested, showing Sirius a door to a back room of Dumbledore’s office. Sirius smiled happily and followed Dumbledore’s instructions, happy with his decision to stay. However, as soon as the door shut, anxiety washed over him. What if Sirius just decided to stay, but Peter and Remus just left without giving him a second thought? Yeah, he’d have James, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

Dumbledore went and got Peter next.

_Oh, I remember you,_ the hat said. _Were you not happy with our decision?_

_I, I think you got confused. You agreed to put me in Hufflepuff, I’m not big and brave like all the rest of them,_ Peter dmitted.

_Now, I don’t remember to agreeing to anything of the sort,_ the Hat commented _. I told you that’d I’d place you in a house where you would be able to have a group of friends who would judge you on what you do, not who your parents are. Have you not found that yet?_

_I mean, with James and Remus, sure, they seem fine with it, at least with as much as James knows, but I’m stuck living in a room with Sirius Black! He seems nice, but I’m afraid of what he’ll do when he finally realizes that I wasn’t raised in this world,_ Peter explained.

_And just how do you know that Sirius will be like that?_ The Sorting Hat asked.

_He, he’s a Black! His whole family are death eaters, that’s what Remus told me,_ Peter answered.

_Now now Peter, are you judging someone based on who their parents are? You have found your group that you fit in with, do you really want to throw it away for a chance to go to Hufflepuff, where you don’t know anyone yet? Where you have no idea who your new roommates will be?_

Peter thought about it. He had been so nervous about coming to school and not fitting in, and that was why he wanted to be in Hufflepuff. But now that he found a group of people he could be friends with, was being in Hufflepuff really that important?

_But they’re all getting re-Sorted too,_ Peter argued. What was the point of staying in a house for people who were leaving it?

_James Potter will never be anything but a Gryffindor, he is not going to get re-Sorted today. Don’t you believe that he will stay with you, and build more friendships around the two of you? And the others are being re-Sorted, but I will give them the same offer I give you. I am letting you make the decision of which house: Gryffindor or Hufflepuff?_

Peter sighed. This was too big of a decision for an eleven year old to be making. Finally, Peter mustered up the courage to choose the smart option. “Gryffindor,” he declared softly.

Dumbledore smiled warmly, taking the Sorting Hat back into his hands. “Sirius is waiting behind that door over there, if you would like to go join him,” he said, pointing towards the back room.

Peter tried to look confident as he walked into the room, but he didn’t feel like it was working. Sirius, on the other hand, stood up tall and proud, looking every part the perfect pureblood son his parents wanted him to be.

“So, you’re in Slytherin now?” Peter asked carefully.

“No, actually, I decided I belong in Gryffindor,” Sirius answered, hoping Peter didn’t think he was weak for not holding his ground about belonging in Slytherin.

He shouldn’t have worried. Peter’s face lit up as Sirius finished his sentence. “Really? I chose to stay in Gryffindor too!”

“Really?” Sirius asked, startled. “You don’t want to be in Hufflepuff anymore?”

“I wanted to be in Hufflepuff so I could make friends easier, and not be an outcast,” Peter admitted. “The Hat just showed me that I already had my foot in the door with friends here, why would I need to start over now?”

“That’s great,” Sirius said, ignoring the little pit of jealousy in his stomach. Peter’s problem seemed so easily solved, why couldn’t his be like that?

“What made you change your mind?” Peter asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind telling of course.”

Sirius shrugged. “The Hat made me realize Slytherin was where my parents want me to be, but I don’t have to be like my parents,” he answered nonchalantly. Peter was struck by how similar that was to what the Hat had just said. Maybe he didn’t have to be so afraid of Sirius?

Remus was invited back inside the office next.

“Listen, Headmaster, I’m so sorry this happened, I’m know how hard of a decision it must’ve been to enroll me in the school, and I’m not taking it for granted, I promise,” Remus rambled as soon as the door closed behind him.

“Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore interrupted, “you are not in trouble. Also, you are just like every other student here all but one day a month, I expect no less and no more of you than every other student in this castle. You don’t have to be the perfect student to thank me for allowing you into Hogwarts, you are here because you show magical potential, just like everyone else. Now, would you like to be re-Sorted?”

Remus didn’t say anything, just nodded, and Dumbledore put the Hat on Remus’s head.

_I have to be honest, I didn’t not expect you to be in the group of students to break into Dumbledore’s office on the first day of school,_ the Hat commented.

_Yeah, I’m just full of secrets and surprises, aren’t I?_ Remus thought drily. _Now, can you please just put me in Ravenclaw and get this over with?_

_And now why would you want to leave Gryffindor for Ravenclaw?_ The Hat asked.

_Because I like reading and learning new things, I’m not loud and outgoing like Gryffindors, and I’m less worried about Ravenclaws trying to figure out what is happening to me and going out and doing something stupid that gets them hurt,_ Remus reasoned without missing a beat.

_Not all Gryffindors are loud and brash, that is only a stereotype,_ the Hat solded. _Gryffindors have all sorts of different personalities, but the important thing is that they are brave enough to do what needs to be done. Also there are just as good of odds that the house of the curious tries to follow you to figure you out as the house of the adventurous._

_Oh, so that’s what this is going to be,_ Remus thought, rolling his eyes. _We’re not actually getting re-Sorted, you’re just convincing us that you don’t make mistakes and that Gryffindor is where we “truly belong” and all of that crap._

_That’s not true, I make my case for why you’ve been placed in Gryffindor, then I am allowing you to choose for yourself: Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. The decision is entirely up to you,_  the hat argued.

_Yeah, sure, after you manipulate us into thinking you were right all along,_ Remus scoffed. _Whatever, I’ll be a good soldier and follow along, I’ll stick with Gryffindor._

_Do not make the decision because you think you have to, make the decision you want to make._

Remus thought back to the night before, his roommates and him staying up all night talking and planning and laughing, things he’d never gotten to do before, since his parents were afraid he would hurt any other kids he was around. He knew that the odds were that he would be able to find another group of people to hang out with, but something about the look in James’s eye when he offered to take the blame so Remus didn’t get in trouble made it hard for him to believe that any friends in the future would feel the same as this did.

“Yeah, Gryffindor, I’ll stay.”

“Congratulations, Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore said happily. “I’ll grab the other two from the back room, and you all may go back to Mr. Potter outside.”

James paced in the waiting room. He was trying to be happy that they’d pulled it off, that everyone was going to be in the house they deserved, but it all just felt like a waste. They could be a really great team, really great friends, if they just stuck together. They made it into Dumbledore’s office on the first day of classes! It was all he had ever hoped for in a friend group.

But he couldn’t force them to stay in a house that they didn’t belong in just for his sake. So when they walked out, he was going to smile happily and try again with his new roommates.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a couple of minutes, Dumbledore opened the door again. “Mr. Potter, I trust that you are happy in Gryffindor?” he asked. James nodded quickly, not wanting to make Dumbledore think he was having any doubts.   
“Alright then. Now boys,” Dumbledore said, turning sideways, and James could see the other three were standing just on the other side of the head master, “from now on, try to find better solutions to your problems than breaking into professors’ offices.”

All the boys uttered the rounds of “yes sirs” and scurried out of the room, wanting to get out before Dumbledore changed his mind and decided he wanted to punish them.

After they hurried all the way back downstairs to the corridor, James turned to his former roommates. “So, now you guys need new robes?” James asked in a forced light tone.

“Actually,” Remus said with a smirk, “we’re all still in Gryffindor.”

“What?” James asked incredibly. He felt relief flood through his body, but it only lasted a few seconds before he realized what that meant. “Wait, the Sorting Hat wouldn’t budge? He wouldn’t let you guys into your houses?”

“Actually,” Sirius answered, looking at the floor, “the Hat gave us the option of which house we wanted, and we all decided to stay in Gryffindor.”

“Really?” James asked. “But why? You guys were all so sure that you needed to be in different houses!”

“I wanted to be in Hufflepuff because I thought it would be easier to make friends there and get away from being judged. I already made friends here, so why did I need to be in Hufflepuff?” Peter answered happily. He couldn’t believe that all of them had chosen to stick together, they were already that important to each other after one day.

“I decided that I was allowed to have my own life, I don’t have to follow in the footsteps of all of my ancestors if I don’t want to, I can be my own person,” Sirius explained, trying to hide that he was still afraid of what his parents’ reactions were going to be.

“The Hat was playing mind games with us to convince us that Gryffindor is where we should belong, so that it didn’t have to admit it made a mistake,” Remus replied, but a small smiling was growing on his face. “I decided to play along, I’m allowed to be smart in Gryffindor.”

James grinned from ear to ear. “This is going to be amazing!” he exclaimed. “Guys, we broke into the headmaster’s office on our first day here, imagine what other things we can pull off in the next seven years!” With that, he bounded off to catch the second half of dinner.

Peter and Sirius laughed, but Remus just groaned. “I knew I should’ve stuck with Ravenclaw,” he complained, but soon they were all laughing as James turned around to protest and ended up tripping over his own feet and falling.

The Reject Room was gone, replaced by the Marauders' Room


End file.
